An Iranian Film Festival Special Screening

Fahrenheit 451

Director: Ramin Bahrani, Screen Writers: Amir Naderi & Ramin Bahrani, 2018, USA, 100 minutes, Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Michael Shannon, Sofia Boutella, Lilly Singh

Fahrenheit 451 is a modern adaption of Ray Bradbury’s classic novel set in a future America, the film follows a “fireman” whose job it is to burn books, which are now illegal, only to question society after meeting a young woman. It depicts a future where the media is an opiate, history is rewritten, and “firemen” burn books.

Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature are on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But then he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television.

When Mildred attempts suicide and Clarisse suddenly disappears, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known. He starts hiding books in his home, and when his pilfering is discovered, the fireman has to run for his life.

– Cannes Film Festival. Nominated for 5 Emmys

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Ramin Bahrani

Ramin Bahrani was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to Iranian parents. He received his BA from Columbia University in New York City. His first feature film, Man Push Cart (2005), premiered at the Venice Film Festival (2005) and screened at the Sundance Film Festival (2006). The film won over 10 international prizes, was released theatrically around the world and was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards.  Bahrani’s second film Chop Shop (2007) premiered at the 2007 Director’s Fortnight of the Cannes International Film Festival and then screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (2007) and the Berlin International Film Festival (2008) before being released theatrically to wide and universal critical acclaim. Bahrani was awarded the prestigious 2007 Someone to Watch Award Independent Spirit Award. In 2008, he was nominated for Best Director Independent Spirit Award Goodbye Solo, Bahrani’s third feature film, premiered as an official selection of the Venice Film Festival (2008) where it won the international film critic’s FIPRESCI award for best film, and later had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (2008). The film was called a “masterpiece” by numerous critics including Roger Ebert and A.O. Scott of The New York Times.

In 2009, he made a short film Plastic Bag which features the voice of German filmmaker Werner Herzog and an original score from Kjartan Sveinsson of the band Sigur Rós. Plastic Bag premiered as the opening night film of Corto Cortissimo at the Venice Film Festival where Bahrani was also on the jury for Best First Films. It later screened at Telluride and The New York Film Festival. In 2012 he made a music video of the song “Eg anda” for the Sigur Ros album Valtari. Bahrani’s fourth feature film, At Any Price (2013) stars Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron, Heather Graham, Kim Dickens, Clancy Brown, and Chelcie Ross. It was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. The film, despite its relative star power and a notable performance by Dennis Quaid, received mixed reviews from most critics and earned less than $500,000 at the box office. Bahrani’s fifth feature film 99 Homes (2015) opened to strong reviews at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for a Golden Globe. Bahrani’s film, Fahrenheit 451, an adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s 1953 dystopian novel of the same name was premiered at Cannes Film Festival.